One of the Charlotte region's oldest nonprofit housing groups is changing its name. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership announced Monday it is now DreamKey Partners. Officials say the new name is intended to emphasize how the group helps people find safe, affordable housing, and also how it is changing and expanding beyond Charlotte.
President Julie Porter said in an interview that the re-branding has been in the works since the housing partnership developed a new strategic plan in 2018.
"A lot of what we do has not changed. We will continue to invest in neighborhoods and will develop housing, both rental and for homeownership. We plan to still be a very strong partner in the community, to city and county and to other nonprofits, financial institutions, residents and neighborhoods," Porter said.
DreamKey Partners also will continue to offer mortgages, education programs for homeownership, housing counseling and foreclosure prevention. The group also administers local COVID-19 relief programs for mortgage, rental and utilities assistance.
"But we're also going to grow and expand our reach in housing development throughout the Southeast," Porter said. "And we're going to deliver on new programs designed to expand economic opportunity."
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership was founded in 1989. Since then, it has developed $321 million worth of affordable housing and apartments, including Brightwalk off Statesville Road and the Mezzanine off Freedom Drive. It currently has more than 1,000 units under construction or in the planning stages.
As for expanding beyond Charlotte, Porter said the group already owns two housing complexes for seniors Georgia and one in South Carolina. She envisions expanding to other markets in the region that need DreamKey's development services.
"I think diversifying the real estate portfolio is just a smart thing to do. I think everybody knows that Charlotte is a super hot market. So we want to make sure that we can compete here, effectively, but also expand," Porter said.
The organization has a new website atdreamkeypartners.org.
